Runner's High

Oh, hey Monday, we meet again...

First off, can we talk about this past weekend?! Holy perfect! I forgot to post my running/work out schedule for last week as promised but I'll easily pass the blame onto mother nature for supplying us with BEAUTIFUL/GOREGOUS/PERFECT weekend weather + some super awesome waves for distracting me! Also, a very special best friend of mine turned 25 on Sunday, so obv my attention was consumed by her all weekend, as well! Such a great time with good friends. :) Life is so good.

I like to post tidbits of my active life outside of the gym and off the pavement, such as surfing, to emphasize how important maintaining a healthy lifestyle is. It is a way of life; it's not just the amount of hours you've clocked in at the gym this week or the miles you ran. It's important to switch it up here & there. (Not only because it makes you awesome but it keeps you sane!) For example, I considered Monday my "rest day" but in reality, surfing (even if only for an hour or two) is not resting. It's a workout in and of itself. I'd prefer a good paddle with some friends over a lonely gym session any day, but the reality is the waves aren't always there for you to enjoy [especially here in Jax Beach!]. The gym, however, will always be there. So, when the opportunity arises for you to grab your board and hit the water til sunset after a long work day, DO IT. Not only will you feel it in your arms, abs & back the following morning, it seriously helps clear your mind and acts as a natural calming agent. (at least for me, it does!) Don't worry that you've missed a scheduled run or a planned gym sesh. Those moments will always be available. Whether it's surfing, a little beach volleyball with friends or pick up basketball with a bunch of rando's on your neighbor hood court, being socially active is always an acceptable excuse to skip a workout.

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Oct. 5th -6.5 Miles Pace: 9:55/mi Slow but steady. First long run of the season.	Oct. 6th REST DAY! Waves were fun, so an after work surf sesh was my exercise this day! ;)	Oct. 7th Mellow Mushroom 5K Beer Run! 3.1 miles with friends, followed by a cold brew! Pace: 8:50/mi	Oct. 8th Gym Day. Arms primarily, moderate abs & legs. Duration: 1.25 hours.	Oct. 9th -Gym Day. Abs, Legs & HITT. Duration: 1.5 hours	Oct. 10th -4 mile run Pace: 9:25/mi	Oct. 11th -3 mile run Pace: 9:30/mi -7 mile bike ride -1 hour gym sesh: abs & arms -3 hr surf sesh

Visit  Jeff Galloway's website for some great marathon training tips. Galloway Training is highly regarded here in N.Florida and his training programs have helped tons of people accomplish their running goals. I highly recommend checking out his site for some helpful tips and guides for beginning runners!

I'll be catching up on my healthy recipe postings this week so check back soon for yummy inspirations for all your culinary desires!

xxC

Fall-la-la-la-la

Today is October 8th. Today, I will re-commit myself to this blog. Today, I won't make excuses as to why I'm "too busy" or "not interesting enough" to write. I. Love. Writing. I love to read, to learn, to discover new things.

I also love to promote awareness about breast cancer and whatdoyaknow, OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! This can't all be coincidental, right? This is a sign, from the blog gods above; their sneaky way of giving me that "umpf," the push I needed to devote a few hours a week doing something I enjoy. I should also thank my awesome friends, who have come to me recently with their interest in joining myself and many others in The Donna Marathon  in February.

I have been an active participant with this wonderful run for 5 years now. For the first two years, I was apart of a great team of friends who helped find a cure by donating their time and money for a relay team to complete the full 26.2 marathon! The last 3 years I've challenged myself to train and put forth the effort to complete the half marathon portion of the race. As much as I love running, I'm still not convinced I'll ever want to [or be able to] complete a full marathon. But who knows, maybe one day?!

The relay is awesome. It's divided up perfectly for 5 runners, at any level, to complete as a team. The marathon is broken up into 5 legs of different lengths, from 3.5 miles to 6.75 miles. The relay is an awesome way to get involved! Anyone can do it, the cost is relatively low as you are splitting between 5 people and it is really, really fun. 

The amount of people that not only run in the race, but volunteer their time to ensure everything runs smoothly plus the HUGE amount of supporters that cheer you on throughout the entire course is really special. I never feel tired during this run because of the all the "Thank You" signs from supporters who have been affected by this terrible cancer, whether it was themselves, family or friends. It's seriously uplifting.

Personally, I have not been affected by breast cancer, but when I heard there was a run in my hometown that had an all-pink theme, provided courses to allow runners of all levels to participate AND donated 100% of proceeds to the foundation, how could I say no?! How can YOU say no? Go click on the link above ^^ and sign up. Just do it. You'll feel really good about it. Plus, the training that you endure to achieve the medal at the end of this race will provide you with a pre-summer bikini bod that you'll also feel really good about!

Help me find a cure! Check back this weekend for my first training log post + tips to getting started!

xx.Catie

Crockpot Craze

What's not to love about cooking a dinner in your crockpot? You simply decide on the meal you want to make, throw in all the ingredients and walk away, only to come back when your meal is warm, cooked & ready to devour! This is exactly what I did yesterday and it was soo good!

I haven't blogged since last week so here's an update:

#RUNDONNA, or the 26.2 with Donna Marathon, is THIS SUNDAY! OhEmGee. I can hardly contain my excitement! This will be my *third* half marathon, and my 5th year running in The Donna. I've been training since November but I will definitely say this year is the first year I haven't been too hard on myself with my training as I now consider myself to be somewhat of a half marathon veteran. (I know, I know, I've only done it 2x, so maybe I am just a little cocky ;)) Not to say I haven't taken my training seriously, but I haven't forced myself to run 12 miles at least 4x/week these last 3 weeks as I had in previous training regimens. Honestly, I feel stronger this year and more prepared than I have in the past. Maybe it's because this past year I've kept up with my running all year, even in the hot Florida summer days, although it may have only been a 1.5 mile jog to the gym. Also, I did the Jacksonville Beach Winter 10 mile Run last month so that felt like a nice prep run.

On Saturday I began carefully planning out my week, including my meals & workouts for the week. I knew I wanted to buy a ton of fresh veggies and have carbalicious (yes, I eat carbs and I'm not ashamed!) meals planned. I need to sustain my energy and nutrition levels all week to allow for my best performance on Sunday. So, on Saturday my boyf & I biked up the the local green market to see what delicious fruits & veggies our local farmers had to offer this week. We walked away with a big, beautiful purple japanese eggplant (which is actually a fruit, did ya know?!), sweet yellow onions, fresh scallions and some super juicy citrus. All organic, all fresh, all local and ALL FOR LESS THAN $10! Talk about a happy girl!

I knew I wanted to have the eggplant close to race day, maybe eggplant Parmesan, for a pre-run carb dinner. Like I mentioned before, I wanted to have healthy, hearty meals planned for each night this week so here is what I came up with:

Sunday: I bought Scott & I tickets to see Mason Jennings (one of his top 5 fav artists) at the PV Concert Hall, so we had a late dinner after the show. We made flatbread pizzas with naan, tomato sauce, basil, spinach, fresh mozzarella, mushrooms & tomatoes. Mmmm. 
I did a nice work out this morning at the gym followed by a beautiful morning walk with my guy to a local coffee shop, Breezy's, that is right down the street from our house! We had never been before so figured it was time to stop in & check it out since we're such coffee-lovers. I would definitely recommend it; the place was cute & cozy, the coffee was strong and freshly brewed and they had several breakfast and lunch items that included organic ingredients and other healthy options!

Monday: Homemade Tuna Helper. This was very easy to make! I put a TON of veggies in it making it delicious AND nutritious! I used veggie pasta, homemade "cheese" sauce, added asparagus, mushrooms and broccoli. I used 2 cans of drained tuna which provided plenty of protein. Prep + cook took less than 45 minutes and there was some leftover for lunch the next day. I will definitely be making this again soon & posting the recipe!
I woke up thinking about the run this morning and it lingered all day. By the time I got off work, I had convinced myself I needed to complete one last, long run before Race Day. The informed runner deep down in me KNOWS you shouldn't exert yourself too much the week of a big run, but I told that pesky know-it-all voice to pipe down and ultimately decided that running 12 miles was 1) a good idea and 2) needed to be done. So, I got home from work, laced up my #Asics and took off north on the beach. I ran 6 miles north along the ocean with a pink/purple/pastel colored sky, dodging starfish & jellies along the way. The temperature was a perfect 58 degrees. It was magical. So I turn around to head back south to our place when Scott calls to find out where the hell I am. When I explain to him that I was doing my last long run before #TheDonna he tells me I'm crazy and he's going to come pick me up. LOL. I didn't argue with him; the temp was dropping, the sun had set and I was beginning to feel cold & tired anyway. Thus, my last long 12 mile run turned into a nice 8 miler with an easy end. No complaints. :)

Tuesday: The original plan was to make a mexican-themed meal butttt due to my dad getting some AWESOME news, we went out with my family to celebrate! We dined at a little local seafood restaurant where I indulged in fresh, Maryland-style crab cake. Don't worry, it was broiled not fried!
I had a great gym session after work for about a hour, focusing mainly on arms & abs with some light weight squats. Don't want to overwork my legs this week!

Wednesday: This was my late day (10am - 7:30pm) so I knew I wanted to get a head start on making dinner so we wouldn't be eating too late. (Carbs are good but not at 9pm!)
I had a very relaxing gym sesh that morning, doing mostly body weight exercises to keep my joints loose & blood flowing while also focusing on my core. I am still waiting for my abs to reappear from last summer..........
I decided on a crockpot taco bowl recipe I had found on Pinterest a while back that I'd been meaning to try. I came home during my lunch break @ 3 to throw everything together.

Healthy Crockpot Mexi-Bowls
1 small yellow pepper (from my garden!)
1/2 large green pepper
1/2 large red pepper
1/2 sweet yellow onion (from the green market)
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 bunches of green onions, or scallions (from the green market)
1 can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels
fresh chopped cilantro
3/4 lb Greenwise chicken breast (cage-free, no antibiotics)
chili powder
S&P
freshly squeezed lime juice

I chopped up all my veggies (except the corn) the night before and put them in a plastic baggie with lots of lime juice, chili power & cilantro. I let them marinate all night so they would be extra flavorful while saving myself some prep time during my lunch break.
I put all ingredients, including the raw chicken (which was still mostly frozen), into the crockpot and set it on the 6 hour setting.

I walked into our house after work and was met with an amazing, spice & herb aroma that was just lovely. My mouth was already watering! The crockpot needed a good stir and I was able to shred the chicken easily. I added in my favorite brown rice & quinoa mix from Seeds of Change, a certified organic company. I finished with chopping up some fresh lettuce from my garden, pulling out the cheese & sour cream for Scott and whipped up a quick bowl of fresh guacamole from a perfectly ripe avocado I had. Mmmmmmmmm. I took out tortillas for Scott but like me, he opted for just a bowl of the goodness topped with his favorite fixin's. We ate our delicious dinner watching the Olympic women's figure skating short program. It was a good night :)

Now it's Thursday, my most favorite day of the week. Thursday is date night for Scott & I. It's been our tradition for almost a year now! You may be thinking that a weekly date night for a young couple like ourselves is a bit much, maybe unnecessary or slightly self-indulgent, but let me tell you: it keeps us happy, gives us something to look forward to each week & it's completely affordable! We go to Al's Pizza every Thursday because it's dollar night! $1 Yuengling (Scott's fav), $1 wine (my fav) and $1 slices (favs for both!). Before we moved in together last August, Scott lived about 8 blocks from Al's and I lived about 15 blocks. So, we always biked up to the pizza joint and often met friends there or had some join on the way. Even though we live farther south in our new place, it's still only about 3.5 miles which is a nice bike ride when the weather allows. So, we've kept up with our biking tradition when we could and tonight's forecast looks absolutely perfect for a beachside cruise. I hope everyone enjoys their Thursday!!

I'll be posting this weekend with updates on my garden. I have a few things to update my fellow green thumbers on: I found an AWESOME local nursery only 6 blocks from my house (!!!) and last weekend began to plant about 1/2 of my spring season veggies. Also, I have a great new idea for my herbs.. stay tuned!

xxC

Post Vacation Blues

Does anyone ever really ENJOY coming back from vacation? I guess I can say I am a little bit excited to be back from our mini weekend vacay because that means I am closer to my next vacation. So, does that really even count?! And I suppose I was excited to see how my Sun Gold tomato plants did in my absence this weekend.. (they grew almost 4 inches while I was gone!!!) I can't wait until I see the first couple of flowers! I have spent 2+ months on these babies and let me tell you, they are needy little plants! I promise to post pictures soon & describe the growing process with these sweet little fruits. :)

Well, now that I'm off island time and back to reality, I wanted to post my *famous* roasted veggie mac 'n cheese! Yes, I still eat mac n' cheese and no I don't feel guilty about it! Why? Because I don't use ANY butter, the pasta is made from vegetables, it's chalk FULL of mixed veggies. Not to mention, it's sooo good!! I originally found this recipe from Pinterest and I've made it several times. However, I don't think I have made it the same exact way twice! It's a fun recipe to mix up and I love trying new things. I decided to make this on Wednesday night, the day before we left for Captiva. We didn't grocery shop last week because we had left overs from Superbowl to munch on throughout the week as well as a few remaining vegetables from the green market. So, I figured I would try and use up all perishable items before leaving them to go bad over the weekend. I had a great gym sesh after work that day and had worked up a nice appetite so I was ready for something hearty. (Also, the leftovers made for a great lunch the next day!) I rummaged through my pantry and fridge to see what I could throw into this yummy dish & this is what I came up with!

Roasted Veggie Mac 'n Cheese

1 cup frozen broccoli florets, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn kernals
4 sweet little peppers (2 yellow, 1 orange, 1 red), diced
1/4 tomato, diced
6-8 baby carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 onion, chopped
3/4 box of Rontoni Garden Delight Tricolor Rotini pasta (approx 2-3 cups)
1/3 cup virgin olive oil
3-4 tbsp all purpose flour (I used unbleached, whole grain flour)
1 1/4 cup milk (I used unsweeted almond but dairy will do just fine!)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese + 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (you can stick to just cheddar if you prefer, I just didn't have enough so I supplemented with the mozz)
cayenne pepper
red pepper flakes
paprika
S & P

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place foil down on a baking sheet. Throw your chopped veggies (all but the garlic) onto the foil & coat lightly with olive oil & toss around. Place into oven & bake for about 20 minutes or until most the veggies are soft (the carrots took a little longer than the rest but I like mine a little crunchy anyways). I also threw on some seasonings before placing into oven, but you can wait until after. Your choice!

 

While the veggies are roasting, heat a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, lower heat and add in pasta. When the veggies are done, take them out a place aside. While the pasta cooks, heat a medium size skillet with the olive oil. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic starts to brown. Slowly start to whisk in your flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. You'll see the mixture start to bubble, add in your milk gradually, whisking constantly to avoid clumping. Once all the milk is added, remove from heat and switch from whisk to a mixing spoon and continue to stir while adding in your cheese. Shake in some cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika and salt and pepper. Bump up your oven temperature to 500 or to a broil setting.

Put your drained pasta into a glass casserole baking dish. Place roasted veggies on top. Then, begin evenly pouring your delicious cheese mixture on top of the veggies and pasta. Once all the mixture is distributed, stir it all up to ensure a nice, even coating. Now, you can add some bread crumbs if you'd like or some additional cheese (I've used grated parm and it's yummy) but I didn't have either on hand so I went without.

 

Place your casserole dish into the oven and let your mac 'n cheese come a slight bubble or until the top begins to brown. Take it out & serve it up! ENJOY! :)

Super Bowl Sunday

Feeling more like super tired Monday zZzZz... I love football but that game last night was weak. I really expected more out of you, Broncos! Peyton Manning's performance fell short of many high expectations, but hey, that's the nature of the sport, right? My bet was on the #orangeunited but it's always nice to see the underdogs win. My #jaguars didn't quite make it to the playoffs (nor did we even come close) but as we always say, THIS IS OUR YEAR! Right, right??

So, let's get down to what was really the focus for most Americans on this national holiday: THE FOOD. I spent most of my Sunday morning laying in bed (nursing my hangover, thanks a lot Saturday night beach bars) pinteresting. I knew Publix was going to be a complete madhouse with all the other crazies who decided to wait until the day-of to grocery shop. So, I wanted to be fully prepared when I marched into the madness with my itemized grocery list for my super bowl fun foods. Also, I knew if I did not come prepared with a list that included only ingredients I was planning on using, I would leave with a jumbo size bag of potato chips and ready-to-eat fried foods from the deli, which does not fit into my healthy life diet I have implemented this year. Not to mention I will be on a mini-vaycay this weekend during which I will be living in my new bikinis from #victoriassecret so there will be no room for cheat meals this week. No way.

Here is what I cooked up for yesterday's event:

Healthy(ish) Baked Eggrolls

Ingredients:
1 can black beans (I used the organic Winn-Dixie brand)
1.5 cup of corn (I had an organic frozen bag)
1 jalapeno, diced and seedless
1 small yellow pepper (from my garden!) diced
1 small, sweet orange pepper, diced
1 small, sweet red pepper, diced
1.5 cup chopped fresh spinach
green onion, chopped (I had bought a nice sized bunch from our local green market and used about 4 stalks with this recipe)
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
a couple shakes of cumin + paprika
1 tbs chili powder 
dash of S & P
freshly chopped cilantro
1.5 cup freshly shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
1 package of all natural, gmo-free egg rolls

Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Separate the egg rolls; the package I bought came with approximately 21 rolls, however, I used only 15. Layer on the filling and roll up! I used approx 2-3 tablespoons of filling for each roll, making 8 big rolls and 7 smaller rolls. I also used 1 egg mixed with a little water to seal the rolls. Place on a baking sheet and into the oven for about 10-15 minutes (or until the edges get nice and brown and crispy!)
I mixed some lite sour cream with a few shakes of paprika to serve alongside the egg rolls, hot out of the oven. I also recommend guacamole as a garnish, but we had devoured the guac with some chips while the egg rolls were baking!
You can spice up the recipe by adding some hot sauce or more jalapeno; For the meat-lovers, add some shredded chicken for extra protein! I'm a veggie girl so these were perfect for me :) The recipe is super easy and putting the egg rolls together took very little time! I definitely recommend these for an easy appetizer or snack for your next event.

Opening Day

Hello and welcome! After much deliberation, encouragement and of course procrastination, I am finally here! I have been enticed by the blogging world for some time now and have become quite attached to several blogs. I love checking in daily to see what new recipes, ideas and creativity are sparked and put out there to share with the world.

So, what will my blog do for you? I certainly cannot promise that my writing will captivate and inspire you like others have for myself. I can tell you what it will do for me: allow me to share my passions, such as fitness, cooking and gardening, be expressed through an avenue I have yet to explore. I've always been drawn to the art of literature, however, I haven't considered my ideas, creations nor experiences alluring enough for an audience outside the realm of my inner circle. I am 100% open to constructive criticism from my readers; I want to enhance the experience for you while having some fun myself!

Enjoy!

x.C